Kharkov (Kharkiv), a city in the Ukraine with a population of 1,461,300 in 2006 (833,000 population in 1957), a railroad and industrial center, founded in 1654, capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1917-1934, played a significant role for the Mennonites of the Ukraine. A number of small settlements were established in the province of Kharkov. Some Mennonites found their way to the city before World War I. N. H. Hildebrandt was instructor of German in the high school of Kharkov (1898-1918). All of his children received a very good education. Käte was a physician. His son-in-law, J. L. Festa, was a tutor of many Mennonite teachers. The firm Braun and Epp, Mennonites originally from Tiegenhof, Danzig, had the agency of the Mercedes cars, etc., there. J. S. Ediger was a successful practicing homeopathic physician until 1917. Kharkov usually had a number of Mennonite students. Among them were Eliesabet Isaak and J. Dick, both of who studied medicine.

After World War I, B. B. Janz and A. Dick resided for a time (1922- ?) in Kharkov. Both represented the Mennonites and were active in the Verband der Bürger holländischer Herkunft. In addition, Kharkov was always a stopping place for Mennonites traveling through. Evidently, however, the Mennonites did not organize a congregation here. Some attended the Lutheran Church and others worshiped with the Baptists.